Love and Death, 1975

Plot Summary:
When Napoleon declares war on Russia, Boris Grushenko is called upon to fight for his mother country. He is reluctant to fight and is bullied into it by his entire family and town. He leaves behind his cousin Sonia, who he is also in love with. Through unexpected events, he is deemed a hero for capturing some French generals and soldiers. While taking a hiatus before leaving for the front lines, Boris meets Sonia at an opera. He discovers that her husband, the herring merchant, recently died and thus rekindles his relationship with her. After having an affair with a married woman, Boris is confronted by her husband. He is set to duel him, and is almost sure that it will end with his own death. In a desperate plea, he asks Sonia to marry him if he lives. She reluctantly agrees, even though she does not really love him in that way. Miraculously he survives and the two wed. For years their marriage is tense, but after a while Boris wears her down and Sonia begins to love him. Not soon after, Napoleon declares war again and Boris prepares to leave for battle. Infuriated Sonia hatches a plan to assassinate Napoleon, in order to save Boris from another war. Both travel to Paris, where they fail in their assassination attempt. Sonia evades capture; however, Boris is unfortunately executed for his treacherous actions. The final scene includes Boris and the grim reaper dancing through a field.

What Was Going on Historically in 1975:
This film was released two years after the U.S. military exit from Vietnam and conveys a mild antiwar sentiment. The war between Russia and France in the film appears to be pointless to Boris, who wonders what difference there would be living under Napoleon instead of the czar, except that the czar is taller. Boris's officers justify the war, saying it is necessary in order to spare the Russian people from am overly rich diet of heavy French creams and sauces. Just as the Vietnam war appeared senseless to many outraged young Americans, the French/Russian war appears pointless to Boris. Allen's liberal, antiwar politics are occasionally embedded in the humor of the movie although it is not a major theme.

Mise En Scene Analysis:
In one of the beginning scenes of Life and Death Woody Allen’s character, Boris, and Diane Keaton’s character, Sonia, meet in an attic. Boris has been describing his love for his cousin twice removed, Sonia, who is apparently the towns’ beauty. The scene is filmed using medium close up shots to exemplify their closeness and intimacy with one another. Their conversation moves at a fast pace, which is a style Woody Allen utilizes as a characteristic of his personality. He often has quick one liner’s that add comedy to an otherwise banal dialogue. The amalgamation of these techniques can be used to critique the age old story “man loves girl, girl loves someone else.” The angst of unrequited love is exemplified throughout this scene, by using close-ups of Boris and Sonia.
While they discuss a lighter topic of who Sonia has been offered a hand in marriage, they are filmed in medium close ups, cutting right above their chests. They are not as serious, but rather chatting as old friends. When the conversation takes a different tone, their staging positions change. Allen begins to turn away from Keaton, while arranging his body almost completely facing the camera. This technique can be interpreted as his confession to the audience and simultaneous bashfulness towards Keaton. Boris’ position exemplifies his internal struggle to tell the woman that he loves his feelings for her. Meanwhile Sonia is facing towards Boris, unnoticing of his troubles. Their dialogue and staging positions change when Sonia divulges her love for Boris’s brother. The director uses shot reverse shot as they discuss how unfit Boris’s brother, Ivan, is for Sonia because she had just been telling Boris that she wanted a man who would fulfill her “intellectual, spiritual, and sensual” passions and Ivan won’t be able to do any of those things. Their conversation is intimate and shot close up to get a greater sense of their reactions to one another. Sonia is flippant and naive while Boris is eager and skeptical.
This scene exemplifies many of Woody Allen’s theories concerning the relationships between men and women. There is an obvious tension between the two main characters, although the viewer is left to feel as if it is only on Boris’ side. The film reflects the stereotypical and satirical relationships of men and women. Supposed to be set in Russia during the 1700’s, the themes are notoriously modern. Their relationship aptly reflects a universal quality of unrequited love. Allen argues that the themes prevalent then are still apparent in the 1970’s and still apparent today. The struggle between men and women to arrive on the “same page” has and always will be a struggle of language and meaning. Boris can not properly communicate his feelings, and thus resorts to play on words and jokes. Their relationship is a reflection of problems men and women have with communication. Allen argues that women often say one thing and do another; their actions may not always coincide with their intentions. Thus, Sonja goes to marry Voskovic the herring merchant even though she claims to want a “love that scales the heights of passion.” What does that even mean anyway?
A scene involving Woody Allen and the Countess Alexandrovna exemplifies the hyper sexuality that emerged within the 70’s era. Boris sees the Countess from across the theatre; they make eye contact and proceed to flirt throughout the whole opera. Allen uses an extreme long shot to show the distance between Boris and the Countess. The establishing shot demonstrates that they are unfamiliar with one another. However as the music heightens the sexual tension within the scene grows as well; a crescendo coincides with the initiation of flirtation. The camera begins at a medium long shot and by the end they are filmed extremely close. The use of extreme close up lets the viewer see the sexual tension between the Countess and Boris. The camera catches her sensuality while she brushes her fan across her lips. Her mouth is slightly open with a seductive gaze towards Boris. On the other hand, Boris reflects her gestures with the same attempt at seduction. However, his attempt is pathetic rather than an actual seduction.
Allen uses this comical scene to explore the openness of sexuality that was appearing in films during the seventies. It is obvious the Countess is an attractive woman; however, with the acceptance of more sexually overt messages during the 70’s, she is able to show that vivacity for sex. Likewise Allen uses a parody of him acting “sexy” to argue that sexuality may not only be about looks. Throughout Life and Death it is reiterated that one would want a partner that is more than just physically appealing, but satisfies you on a greater level. This is part and parcel to the empowerment of women to feel they have a right to choose who they marry and love.

Ways the Film Comments on Gender, Sexuality and Relationships:
In the film Love and Death, Woody Allen took a look at a classical piece of literature, such as Dostoevsky and Tolstoy and modified it to realistically portray modern themes. The revolution that began in the 1960’s and continued throughout the 1970’s can be seen in any of Woody Allen’s films of that time; Love and Death thus paradigms a realistic relationship between a man and woman. Allen argues that relationships have not changed over time but the analysis and observation of his films reflect a more truthful representation. Allen often discusses the different aspects of a relationship creating a candid portrayal of the troubles between men and women. Love and Death encompasses the lust of one man for a woman, who loves another man, who in turn loves and marries another woman. The complexity of their love triangle reiterates Allen’s argument about relationships, gender and sexuality. In the 1970’s the sexual revolution made the analysis of open relationships more accessible. Unrequited love, cheating, failure and restlessness were all themes known in the world of love. However, Allen revitalized them to become normal in everyday conversation. He argued that we are all doomed to repeat the same mistakes, and maybe that’s “O.K.” The roles men and women play have been so repetitive that they are practically a joke, however up until the 70’s they were not rightly represented. Allen realistically portrays the complexities of relationships, that love can never be simply love. He claims that relationships are hard and require a lot of work just to get them to fail gracefully. The effect of the Vietnam War during the 70’s also had an effect on the films of that era. The revolution of films in the 70’s allowed Allen to speak honestly about his theories of relationships because other filmmakers were also speaking honestly about the war, sexuality and life in general. Like other films of that time Allen did not hide behind a happy ending.

Memorable Quote:
“To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy, one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you're getting this down.”
This quote is the sum of all of Woody Allen’s themes regarding relationships. They are complicated and miserable, yet you can’t be happy without them. It reflects the candid approach to storytelling that films created in the 70’s. They admitted that life did not always have a simple happy ending, as previous movies suggested prior to the revolution of the 70’s era. With his films Allen commentates on the reality of relationships often exposing the hardships that they encompass.